Soul Express Album Review  Buy this album from our CD Shop
JAZZHOLE: UK Soul Brother, 2006 Poet’s Walk – All The Ways – Jonesing – Lowdown – One More Time – It Would Have Been Enough – The Slipping Of Time – Do It Right – Timeless – All The Way (Dub) I am to become the next in a long line of reviewers to praise this album. This is the group’s fifth effort, and is as solid as you could expect. It’s a pleasurable listen throughout and I cannot really report a bad or filler track on it. MOJO magazine hit the nail on the head when discussing this CD. To them "Marlon Saunders' soulful vocals are the perfect antidote to P Diddy"! LOL. Too damn right. Mind you, that’s not a difficult feat by any means is it really?! Anyway, other statements that this is the album that Maxwell should have made are also astute commentary. Maxwell would do well on these grooves. Warren Rosenstein, Marlon Saunders and John Pondel have woven a rich tapestry here for the listeners to ensconce themselves in. It is warm, luscious and immensely satisfying. One of my albums for my pending holiday, in fact! Soul Brother have done the decent thing and given the set an UK release, and more power to them for it, too. For those of you who love rich, real instrumentation and smooth, soulful vocals this album is a must for you. The feel of this album has a comfortably sedate 1970s feel and this suits Marlon’s gorgeous vocals down to a tee. His performance is exemplary throughout but he really does the business on tracks such as "All The Ways" and "Lowdown". I have to single out "Lowdown" for particular praise. I do not usually care for cover versions and they have to really hit the mark for me to take note of them. Boy, do they do a great job on this Boz Scaggs classic. I am so reminded of Ronnie McNeir, and even Eric Benét in this performance. Both musically and vocally the song is first class, absolutely first class. The warm keys are dominant and tantilisingly jazzy. Jazzhole handle a whole plethora of styles here and prove that they are masters of their craft, whether it be a soulful tempo, a funky number, something jazzy or even dipping into Samba. Check the insistent and scratchy groove of "Jonesing"…the tempo at odds with Marlon’s more relaxed, unhurried vocal. It’s a great aural juxtaposition that works very well. The funkier snare of "One More Time" lays a sexier pathway for Marlon to raise his game and deliver his magic, and prepares us for the gorgeously exotic "It Would Have Been Enough" which features the sultry vocals of Michal Cohen. This really is a gem and is on repeat play here at home. The more melancholy "The Slipping Of Time" is another treat and supplemented by the groovier and aptly titled "Timeless". This is nearly 8 minutes of jazzy soul heaven rich in percussion and wah wah guitar. Oh, I wish there were more albums around of this standard. Please do not overlook this album. A great album on a great label from a hugely talented band. More, more, more! -Barry Towler Other Fresh CD Reviews Albums of the Month in 2006 Albums of the Month in 2005 Albums of the Month in 2004 Albums of the Month in 2003 Albums of the Month in 2002 Albums of the Month in 2001 Albums of the Month in 2000 Albums of the Month in 1999 Albums of the Month in 1998 Albums of the Month in 1997 |